Wireless Carriers Announce Rating System

… there’s money to be made in adult content, so eventually handsets will become yet another commercial outlet. Rather than adopting a Web-standard content rating platform such as PICS, the wireless industry associaton (CTIA) has come out with some as-yet-unspecified new technology. So far, it appears to only be a press event about how nice it will be once it’s all working.

The nation’s major cellular phone carriers said yesterday that they had adopted a content rating system for video, music, pictures and games that they sell to cellphone users – a development that could pave the way for them to begin selling pornography and sex-oriented content on mobile devices.

The carriers said the ratings, meant to mimic content classifications for movies and video games, are voluntary.

Initially, the carriers would classify content in two categories: general interest and restricted content deemed appropriate only for people over the age of 18.

The carriers said they had agreed not to begin making restricted content available until they had developed filters and other technological tools that would enable parents to prevent children from getting access to inappropriate material.

The carriers, including Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless, the largest and second-largest mobile companies, said they were developing filtering technology and that it should be available soon.